Zombie 6: Microsoft's Revenge

In less than three weeks, this single zombie received 5 million connection requests from spammers, and 18 million spam messages advertising more than 13,000 individual Web sites. Evidence gathered in this exercise contributed to a lawsuit that has now identified 13 different spamming operations.

Tim Cranton, director - internet safety enforcement programs, Microsoft, said, "The widespread use of zombie computers to commit crimes over the Internet presents a very real danger to law-abiding computer users. This is precisely why Microsoft initiated this investigation into zombies and took legal action. As a result, we have identified more than a dozen spamming operations exploiting zombie networks, to send millions of illegal spam messages. We will continue our investigations and will maintain a steady, concerted effort to identify and target criminals to help make the Internet safer."